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2e2 Douglas rugby club conquered a spirited Dukinfield side on Saturday in what was a good battle at Port-e-chee.

The game started slowly with both sides figuring out exactly what the other one had to offer. Dukinfield tried to impress their game plan first but 2 mauls in succession were disrupted by Dan Creer who defied belief with the steals. With the visitors confused as to how it was robbed the centres ran the lines and Scott Goodall crossed the line.

Dukinfield took just 5 minutes to pin back Douglas and a line out and resulting maul allowed them the position to get over the line. Douglas were being a little wasteful in possession and Dukinfield had their tails up.

Eventually some positive phases were put together, the first allowed Bryn Snellgrove to sneak through and then in quick succession Nick Horsthuis crossed and Douglas looked to be in control. The Douglas daze set in and the Dukinfield right wing went in unopposed with the blindside wide open. 19 - 10 at half time.

The second half was much the same as the first. Both teams battling hard, Douglas crossed first with Liam King gliding in. As Lemony Snickett wrote a series of unfortunate events unfolded, Conor McCaughan saw yellow when he had little choice an took one for the team! Dukinfield turned the screw and Paul Leivers hauled down the maul, penalty try without a warning was the refs choice.

Douglas then decided to play their style of attractive rugby, Snellgrove broke the line on his own 22 and had Callum Carine on his shoulder who took it on and fed Liam King who when hauled short fed Niall Killey for the try and that was the game for Douglas.

Another bonus point win for Douglas despite not being at their best. Credit must go to Dukinfield who came to play rugby and Douglas had to fight for everything from the first whistle to the last. Next week Douglas have Oldershaw away and improvements must be made if the run is to continue.

2E2 Douglas Rugby Club welcome Dukinfield to Port-e-Chee this weekend for another fixture in South Lancashire and Cheshire Division 2. This game should be a good game for the spectators with both teams up at the top of the table. Dukinfield are in 3rd behind Douglas by 3 points and will want to overturn the home team to climb up above them in the standings.
 
Douglas have a few late fitness tests this week as it seems the Collegiate match has taken its toll on a few muscles this week. Glyn Hooson-Owen, Daryn Thompson and Rob Todd have all picked up a few niggly muscular injuries this week and skipper Scott Goodall will no doubt be hoping they are just niggles and they can shake them off before the weekend. Ben Pote travels back to fill in at tight head and should Todd not make it then the more than capable Dan Creer is available to step in at loosehead. James Lidgett is unavailable this week but Carl Markl-Ferns is back from his adventures and will slot back in at hooker. With the second team not ahving a fixture there are plenty of able deputies waiting in the the shadows for their chance in the first team having seen Carl Conroy and Liam King take their chances I'm sure the skipper wont hesitate to call them up.
 
Dukinfield are a very physical side and will not be pushovers, they have a well organised forward pack and a fly half who can kick the corners ably. Douglas were a little bit scrappy last week and will be looking to improve in their attack this week particularly. Douglas are expecting a very physical encounter from Dukinfield and will know that they will have to match them up front and keep their forwards quiet if they are to get themselves the go forward ball that the backs feed off. Training again has been directed towards stripping out the little errors that occur and trying to get the attack firing on all cylinders once more. Defensively Douglas have been relatively sound this season but this is going to be a good battle up front and Douglas will have to put body on the line in defence and the same in attack.
 
If Douglas play like they know they can and play with the structure and intensity that was prevalent in the first few weeks of the season then they will be going a long way towards victory, however dont expect Dukinfield to be coming to Port-e-chee just for the air miles they will have an awful lot to say about the outcome. They turned over Ormskirk last week and appear to be a force in the league this year so Douglas will have to have their wits about them and show the opposition respect if they want the points come saturday tea-time.
 
Kick off is 3pm at Port-e-chee and all are encouraged to attend and support the lads in their quest for victory!

2e2 Douglas rugby club travelled to Liverpool Collegiate on Saturday for what turned out to be a gripping game of rugby!

The opening exchanges were very tight with neither side having the ascendency! The first points of the game came courtesy of Scott Goodall's boot as he slotted the points from a penalty after Collegiate infringed at the ruck!

The game was tight with both teams hitting hard, but yet again Callum Carine was on hand! He picked the ball off his toes and slid over in the corner for his fourth try in 2 games!

Collegiate came back and Douglas were penalised for interfering on the floor and the Collegiate 10 slotted points leaving the half time score at 10 - 3.

The second half brought some questionnable refereeing to the fore! The Collegiate front row were popping up under the Douglas pressure but the ref decided that he wasn't penalising this as he wanted to play rugby!

However the half started much the same as the first, Goodall slotted another penalty! Then came Collegiates first try when the fly half feinted one way and then ran round Douglas into the corner!

Douglas bounced back and Andy Evans was in under the posts, duly converted by Goodall. Momentum then swung Collegiates way as Snellgrove saw yellow when his attempted intercept was judged to be a professional foul! Collegiate however decided they could batter Douglas' forwards into submission at the line out! But they stood firm! Time and time again they kicked corners and not points a decision they must rue today!

Snellgrove returned to the pitch and little more than a minute later Nick Horsthuis saw yellow. Douglas battled hard! And then a bizarre series of events came! Goodall attempted to clear the ball but struck Rob Todd flush in the face, Todds fantastic header fell to Collegiate who put it through the hands! Todd claiming the assist on that one!

Scores balanced at 20 - 18 Collegiate had a shot at goal with the last kick of the game! He missed and Douglas escaped with the victory! The fervent Collegiate crowd were stunned. Credit where it's due Collegiate are a very good team and Douglas got What they expected from them! A tough bruising encounter! But another victory keeps Douglas up at the top end of the table!

2E2 Douglas Rugby club travel to Merseyside this weekend to play Liverpool Collegiate in their second away fixture of the season. Liverpool Collegiate have faced Douglas in the past and there have been some good battles and many bruising encounters. Liverpool Collegiate in the past have been a very strong and physical team and Douglas will be expecting more of the same this time around.
 
There are a few changes this week to the Douglas line up, yet again showing the squad that they have at their disposal. In the forwards, Niall Killey and Carl Markl-Ferns are unavailable so James Lidgett will move from flank in to hooker and Daryn Thompson moves into blindside flank from the bench. Ben Pote is also welcomed back to the front row at tighthead in place of Dan Creer.
The back line also has a few changes, in the centres the hard hitting James Wood will be making his season debut and will be looking to make his mark early on together with Andy Evans who joins the squad having missed last week’s game to travel to Uni. The bench this week for Douglas is once again very strong, Dan Creer, James Creasey and Stephen Tansell show the physicality that Douglas have in their ranks and when called upon will no doubt make an impact as they did last week

Last week Douglas were far from the finished article against a good Marple side, despite the magnitude of the win, Douglas were sluggish and didn’t play with enough conviction and structure. The introduction of Daryn to the starting lineup should hopefully add a steadying influence on the young Douglas pack.

Captain Scott Goodall knows that this will be one of the biggest tests of the season for his side as Collegiate took Ormskirk to the wire last time out who are a well organised side. This match against another team relegated last season will surely provide the perfect gauge to show where Douglas are in their development.